Perspectives on the beautiful game of soccer; fueled by enormous amounts of coffee

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Incredulous Pass

Chivas USA did the unthinkable and let Benny Feilhaber slide on by.

Excuse me for a second while I pound my head into the wall.

I just don't understand how this club can continue to get things wrong when it comes to players. I'm not talking about the rank-and-file guys like Jimmy Conrad and Heath Pearce. I think coach Robin Fraser did well to bring in those kinds of MLS veterans.

But this decision to pass on Feilhaber is not Fraser's fault, really. This is an organizational problem as it seems the organization is somehow against bringing in top-caliber players.

What takes the edge of a tiny it - and I do mean tiny - is that Philadelphia also passed on Feilhaber. Chivas then aren't alone in their idiocy. Feilhaber wound up with New England, for now. Not sure if the Revs will keep him or if they will deal him elsewhere, but wherever Feilhaber lands his club will be better off.

Players like Feilhaber don't come along very often, at least in the gift-wrapped form he was presented to Chivas. Usually, this kind of player would require some scouting, some persuading, some negotiating to land. But Feilhaber would have joined Chivas without much hassle. His contract is already done and taken care of. That he is a local product (lived in Irvine, attended UCLA) would have made him a local-boy-does-good sort of story.

Instead, Chivas USA continues to show their lack of gumption, lack of aggressiveness. They're going to try and nickel-and-dime their way to contention, and thus far that has yielded zero playoff series victories in four trips to the postseason.